Brute Force 750 Skid Plate Review

Product Review

Product:

- Ricochet Skid Plates

Test Duration:

- Long Term

Tested By:

- Nathan Hill / Jeremy Roos

Location:

- Utah and Idaho

Machine:

- 2005 Kawasaki Brute Force 750

Review Date:

- October 2006

Introduction:

Just like most of the ATVÂ’s out there, my Brute Force 750 came with
inadequate skid plates. One of the companies that make aftermarket skid plates
for the Brute Force is Ricochet / Utah Sport Cycle. We have been working with
Ricochet on other projects and they asked that we field test their skid plates
for this specific machine.

First Impressions:

When you receive your skid plates, you will notice that only certain
pieces are anodized. The reason for this is that the price of aluminum has
nearly doubled in the last two years and Ricochet does not want to pass that
burden on to their customers. The pieces of skid that show are the ones that are
anodized and the ones that most people would never see are non-anodized. I
commend Ricochet for keeping the costs down on their product when they could
easily hike their prices to compensate and instead they came up with a way to
minimize costs without degrading the quality and craftsmanship of their fine
product.

Field Testing:

Installation of the Ricochet body armor took just under 1.5 hrs with the
help of a colleague. The hardware that is used for mounting appears to be top
notch and far surpasses that quality of the factory screws and mounting holes.
From just the install, I can tell that there is a lot more protection for the
underside of my Brute. Recently, before installing these skid plates, I had a
log jam up under my rear wheels. The log broke my right rear a-arm ball joint
and tore my CV boot. Had I installed the Ricochet skid plates prior to this, I
am confident that I would have never broken these pieces.

The places
that I ride have large rocks that can be very sharp and oddly shaped making for
a destructive obstacle. I also find the occasional fallen tree that I have to
navigate over when I donÂ’t have the tools to clear the trail. So far, I have
bounced and scraped my machine over these harsh objects and my frame has no
damage and the skid plates are still in great shape. The thick aluminum seems to
be holding up very nicely and I have no complaints.

Long Term:

Long Term Update coming soon...

Pros:

More coverage

Thick and light weight aluminum

Strong mounting system

Excellent overall design

Cons:

None

Bottom Line

I have inspected the design very closely and have abused the
armor to the best of my ability. I cannot find anything that I would change if I
had designed and built them myself.

I highly recommend
Ricochet Skid Plates.

Note: Product for this review was provided
by Ricochet.

Installation

Click on the
pictures to view a larger image in a new window

On the Brute Force, there is a breather line that has to be clamped or it
will continue to spill fuel all over the floor. Here is a picture of how I did
it. Some fuel will still spill out, but it will stop once the excess is
gone.

Ricochet recommends that you tip the ATV on its back in order to install
their skid plates. This is not required, but I have found that it makes the
install much easier.

The Ricochet uses these brackets instead of the factory mounting holes.
This appears to be a much better way of securing the body armor. Because of
the locking nature of the mounting hardware, it is recommended that you put a
drop of oil in each of the welded nuts before inserting the bolt. Notice the
factory method on the right side.

Some of the mounts can be a little tricky to get to and it is nice to have a
helping hand hold the bracket or plate in place while the bolt is inserted.

Ricochet Aluminum on the left and Factory Plastic on the right. It is
obvious what provides better protection.

Here is one of the rear A-Arms. Ricochet top, Factory bottom.

Ricochet skid plate system fully installed. Notice how Ricochet gave you
access to all of the drain plugs so you don't have to pull the plates off
everytime you want to do the maintenance on your machine.